Managing your hotel

One wonderful thing about owning a hotel is that the business has on-site managers to handle the day-to-day details. Your role as the owner is to inspire confidence, drive results, set and communicate expectations, and oversee the business.  

Almost all women-owned businesses are sole proprietorships with few or no employees. The woman who owns the business is also the everything from sales to production to bookkeeping.  As a result, the business may generate income but it never builds value. This format means that the owner can never scale the operation and will always be pressed for time. 

In contrast, a hotel has a general manager who runs the business on-site and employees who clean, maintain, sell, cook and interact with guests. Often there is also a management company with the expertise to oversee management and optimize business results.  

As the owner, you have oversight for the operation. Management handles the day-to-day functions of the hotel. But you have the important role of setting expectations and demanding performance. This is not necessarily a time-consuming role, but it is important because you optimize results.  

As the owner, you are also responsible for the overall asset, which includes making major near-term and long-term decisions. You decide when the hotel needs capital improvements (management will advise you on this too). You decide when it is time to sell. These decisions follow the plan you develop for the asset. You review and adjust the plan periodically. Your role is to optimize returns for your investors and yourself.